"As good as it looked early, it's never easy against this group," said Burnett, who was knocked out in a five-run fifth during the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-5 12-inning victory on Thursday. "They figured me out early. It's just a matter of putting them away and that's what I didn't do."

Matt Carpenter had four hits and scored the winning run on Matt Holliday's single for the Cardinals' second extra-inning triumph over the NL Central leaders in three days.

The Cardinals took two of three in the series to pull within two games of the sagging Pirates, who have dropped five of six. St. Louis won 4-3 in 14 innings in the series opener on Tuesday night.

Rookie Kevin Siegrist (1-1), St. Louis' seventh pitcher, struck out two in a perfect 12th.

Russell Martin and Clint Barmes homered for Pittsburgh, which blew a 4-0 lead in one inning. Jose Tabata had three straight hits after entering as a pinch hitter.

Carpenter sparked the winning rally with a one-out walk. He went to third on Jon Jay's single before Holliday grounded a single up the middle off Bryan Morris (5-6)."He did a good job and laid off some pitches that started in the zone and broke away, so my hat's off to him for not swinging," Morris said. "My last pitch, it caught more of the plate than I wanted to and that's about it."

Martin hit a tying leadoff drive off Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth, handing the setup man his second blown save of St. Louis' 4-6 homestand.

The Pirates hit for the cycle against Lance Lynn in a four-run fifth that featured rookie Andrew Lambo's first hit and RBI on a double and Barmes' two-run homer. The Cardinals responded in the bottom half with a two-run single by Daniel Descalso and RBIs in consecutive at-bats from Carpenter, Jon Jay and Holliday off Burnett.

Hurdle didn't seem overly concerned about Burnett, though. "I know also he's a guy that's experienced everything there is in the game and he will be good and ready to take the ball the next time," he said.NOTES: The Pirates begin a three-game homestand Friday against the Diamondbacks. Pittsburgh rookie Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.95 ERA), who opposes Brandon McCarthy (2-6, 4.73 ERA) in the opener, has lost five of his last six decisions. .